Got to get this off my chest.

Anybody ever watch The Hunting Public videos on Youtube?

These guys are pretty damn good at getting within 15-20yds of a deer and placing an arrow right in the boiler room.

They don't ever seem to miss with a bow. They are excellent archers.

But you give these guys a rifle... Geebus...

In their last video, the fella hits a buck from 200yds out, way back on the spine, so that the back legs are gone but it is still digging with the front.

Blows the left antler off at the base with the second shot.

Then finally closes the distance to put a third one in the kill zone from 50yds out.

Painful to watch.

On Eastmans a week or so ago, they were pronghorn hunting. Two shots at under 200 yards. They didn't show the follow up but the guy clearly gut shot the buck, off a pretty solid rest. They glossed over it.

SMDH.

It's becoming a lost art, long range shooting I mean. I know some guys that when they see a shot over 100 yards, they freak out and say that's too long of a shot for them, I don't start thinking it's a long shot until I start reaching out past 400 yards. I own two rifles that I hunt with, my Remington 700 in .308 and another Remington 700 in 300 WM. My .308 gets most of the work, I haven't used my 300 WM for hunting since my last elk hunt many years ago, but I do shoot it regularly. For a lot of folks, it's just too much work to dial in the dope for a long shot, so they just avoid the situation and wait for a better opportunity. While I certainly can understand the decision to do so as to avoid an unethical shot, 300 to 400 yards really isn't that far (for me anyway), my 300 WM shoots pretty flat at those ranges, my .308 requires some adjustment depending on the weight of the projectile. So from one point of view I get it and would never give anyone any gruff for making that kind of decision, however I would be willing to reach out to those ranges. JMHO

Tons of Texans (myself included) grew up shooting very flat-shooting cartridges (say .270) inside 250 yards. That being the case, if you're on at 100, you don't need to adjust for anything. Just point and click.

Add the use of turrets or just manually accounting for drop, and it can be too much, especially for people who are otherwise already nervous or tired (did you hike/chase to get to your shooting spot?).

My .300 WSM is incredibly flat (depending on cartridge) from 100-300. I'll have it zeroed at 200 and just not think about it. At 400, there's enough drop I need to have the turrets dialed in or "eyeball" in the appropriate amount of drop. Gets a lot tougher past 400 unless your turrets are dialed in.

All that to say, I get it. If you spent your whole life going "point and click" off a good rest, it definitely adds some degree of difficulty, and if you want to have the confidence to execute in stressful situations you need to practice more than you think.

I remember many years ago there was a post to show your 200 yard groupings. It kinda reminds me of taking a friend hunting. He was always bragging about neck shooting only. Well after he missed two neck/head shots I said just shoot for the body and wound up with a real nice gut shot all under 100 yards.

Don’t get me wrong there are some tremendous shooters out there amongst us but they aren’t average and they practice a lot.

I was tempted to take a 750 yard shot on a buck this past weekend. I really thought about it for about 2 seconds. I had a steady rest, no wind and a known range. At 750 yards through bino's his rack was absolutely huge, way bigger than the one I took last year, very tall, very wide on a big body. My all time longest shot is 550 on a coyote last year from this same stand, my rifle is on and proven recently on steel to 400. It was early, like 4:15 and I just knew he'd give me a better shot. He didn't, watched him for all of about 5-6 seconds before he moved behind cover and that was it. I rested my bino's on a sand bag on that area for an hour and looked as long as I could off and on. The season is long and it's early.

I’m a Has Been. Was once on the USAF pistol and rifle team. Now, about to turn 82 and have the wiggles. No more off hand. Need a rest.

ETB, you are spot on Sir, very well said.

I'll bite . Here is a rifleman shot for you . Had my 788 .308 match rifle [ see the old thread about sighting in the hunting rifles ] in the deer stand this morning . This rifle was mainly used in my clubs factory rifle group match . I had replaced the 30x target dot scope with a 3x9 hunting scope but it still had the 6oz trigger . No good bucks at the feeder , then about 30 turkeys showed up . I changed mags to the old 155 Palma match load from the deer load . 165 yards , very light wind . Aimed at the base of the neck and the 6 oz trigger really helped as I was just shooting from the window edge . A perfect dead center hit at the base of the 1 ich dia neck [ where I like to aim ] . This rifle was always a contender at our 100 yard bench group matches . With a 3 5-shot target average of around 0.7 . We started this match to see a lot of the 0.5 local rifles end up with a 2-3 inch average .

THP is the only YouTube channel I subscribe to. I have a ton of respect for them. I’ve watched them hunt public land in just about every region of this country and be successful. From Oklahoma to NY to Dakotas to Colorado. I appreciate the fact they share a ton of knowledge and they take a common sense approach, and they show the work it takes to be successful. I also appreciate they show the realities of hunting public (especially this season) and they also don’t shy away from showing failures. They always learn something from each hunt and keep it positive. It’s the same with that video, Greg is an extremely accomplished archery hunter and he’s up front in that video, rifle hunting is new to him. I appreciate they post these types of videos, sometimes it’s the reality of hunting. Bad shots happen, but he doesn’t give up. Their videos aren’t ads for sponsors, and it’s hunting in its best form. Putting in the work to find sign and hunting it. It’s what hunting videos should be.

I made that same shot in 1991 out of a deer blind in Comanche county with my buddy’s topless red headed sister for a witness. I was using a Remington 700 270 with a Tasco 4X and factory ammo. Sometimes things come together perfectly.

Not a BS story, but the turkey was only 125 yards.

When I shoot a turkey with a centerfire rifle, I generally aim low. Take out a leg/thigh but tends to miss the breast. Works fairly well. But shooting for the base of the neck sounds more satisfying.

The shot placement is what caught your attention in that one? Huh.

Well, he didn't include a pic.

Sorry but I did not haul a camera as it was a 1 mile hike to that blind and I was already carrying a rifle , binocs , a 16 oz DP , snacks and an extra clip of ammo . But it was just a little hole [ no expansion at all ] right through the center of the neck about 5 inches below it's head .

Was more curious about pics from scalebuster.

Ok , I was not sure of what to make of that story .

Having plenty of time to make shots from the bench or from inside a box stand with plenty of shooting aids is one thing, but having to make a shot in just a few seconds while in the field with only a forearm rest at best is something far different. And while I'm not a bowhunter, I can applaud those who possess the skill necessary to take a deer without anything to help steady the shot.

My shot had no shooting aids . Just out the open window from a fold up chair . No rests or shelves .

I am of the opinion that we owe it to whatever game we shoot to kill it as cleanly and efficiently as possible. I will use a rest even for fairly short shots if I can. I don’t believe “too steady” is an undesirable thing. I have zero respect for those that just throw shots at an animal with the hope one will hit.

If you are shooting out of a blind window why didn’t you take a rest on the bottom of the window?

Seconded!

You play the way you practice. Don't take to the bench what you won't have in the field.

Yes, I did lean the rifle's stock on the window edge . I was just saying there was no front bag rest on a shelf or a rear rest , I did get as stable as I could . The point was I hit within about a 1/4 of an inch of where I aimed with one shot and I feel that was done because I was using a match grade rifle and load . I was very happy with the result .

There are some really excellent marksman that can shoot some really long distances, that said, I thinks its unethical as hell to shoot at an animal from those ranges. There are a lot of things that can happen out of your control between the shot and a bullet traveling 700-800 yards or more. If you are a good hunter, then get closer. Like the OP, I'm amazed at shows that continue to hide the poor shots and follow ups from those decisions.